Feel Better
by midori-no-ink
Summary: When Elena goes to visit a feverish Zick, she realizes that he's not the one who has to be put at ease. SPOILER ALERT! This takes place after issue 29 of the comic, and makes reference to the last chapter, so...you've been warned!


To Elena Potato, it was strange enough that she was in a new town. In a new town, _and_ able to see and interact with all the monsters who lived there. If she hadn't met Zick, she knew, none of this would have happened.

It was he who had taught her about the secret world that surrounded them, where to look, how to "see". Perhaps on account of his careful tutelage, Elena couldn't help but feel that she had begun to take his place. She was excited about seeing monsters, where as before they had simply been a constant bother to the young tamer. No, _former_ tamer. He had sacrificed his Dom energy to save her life just a few months before.

Although touched by his actions, Elena also felt guilty, as if she had stolen his gift of Sight. As her Keeper knowledge increased and she became a stronger presence in the world of monsters, she felt terrible for overshadowing Zick. It just wasn't the same without him there by her side adventuring...

Or by her side in class.

Elena sighed as she stared at the empty chair next to her. For goodness sake, it was _his_ school originally! To be there without him was strange.

It was too late in the day to hope that Zick would simply arrive tardy, having missed the bus due to oversleeping or some missing sneaker mishap. Indeed, the day was almost over. As the teacher's lecture droned on and the hands on the clock on the wall neared 3, Elena had only one thing on her mind...

Stepping off the bus, she jogged not to her house, but to the Victorian mansion next door: the Barrymore House. Zick's house. A small amount of anxiety began to mount as she scaled the front steps, preparing to knock on the large wooden door.

_Knock, knock._

Elena stood patiently outside the door, tapping her foot and absentmindedly toying with one of her green-ribboned pigtails. Soon she heard footsteps quickly approaching from inside the house. The door creaked open, and she was greeted by the kind face of Greta Barrymore.

"Hi Mrs. Barrymore," Elena greeted her happily from the front step. "Where's Zick? He wasn't in school today."

"Ah," Zick's mother put her hand on the side of her face and tilted her head to the side somewhat apologetically. "He seems to have caught himself a small cold. He had a fever this morning, so I made him stay home. "

"Oh..." Elena's face fell slightly. However, she wasn't about be deterred. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

"Don't you think you should come in first?"

"Ahaha, oops," Elena grimaced and stepped into the entryway of the house. It was just as she'd come to know it: dimly lit, but warm and inviting nonetheless. A faint scent of musk mixed with freshly cut plants hung in the air.

"Now, Zick's up in his room," Greta explained. "Hopefully in his bed. I don't think he's quite up to sneaking out the window _just_ yet." She winked at Elena, who giggled in reply.

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Barrymore," Elena grinned as she dashed up the stairs. "I won't be too long, I promise!"

Greta smiled warmly in return. Elena demonstrated such compassion; there was no question in the older Keeper's mind that she had chosen the right person to continue the line. She wondered if her son realized just how wonderful a friend he had found in Elena...it would be a shame if he simply took her for granted.

Elena walked down the corridor at the top of the steps. Soon she arrived at Zick's bedroom door, which was shut. Not wanting to intrude, she knocked softly.

"Who is it?" Her friend's voice rang out from behind the barrier, though a bit strained.

"It's me," she replied excitedly. Oh, it was so good to hear his voice!

"Elena?" It strained to the point of cracking.

"Yup, that's right," she continued smiling. "Can I come in?"

"But...but I'm sick!" the voice whined, adding two small coughs as if to prove a point.

"Oh come on," she replied coyly. "You think a little sniffle's gonna scare me? Elena Potato's not scared of some silly germs." _Even if they're cooties._

"Well...all right. But if you catch this, it's not my fault!"

Elena sighed and shook her head as she grasped the door handle. The response was typical Zick - a bit difficult, but under the layer of cynicism she knew a kind individual lay shyly waiting...

The door swung open, revealing a sweeping panorama of the bedroom. Books and clothes lay on the floor, and the curtains on the windows were half drawn. In the bed on the back wall of the small room, a pale, blue-haired boy in light green pajamas sat reading an old book under a dark purple quilt. As their eyes connected, he blushed slightly, hurriedly shutting the book and placing it aside. He smiled awkwardly at Elena, who was silently watching him from the doorway.

"Hey." Her voice softened as she spotted her sickly friend. He'd seemed paler and more easily exhausted since losing his Dom, but this was the first time she'd actually seen him miss school because of it. Indeed he was now "just a normal kid".

She at down on the end of the bed and faced Zick. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he replied. "Really, I'm glad that it's you and not another monster."

"Oh?" Elena giggled. "They giving you trouble?"

"You have no idea," Zick looked annoyed even recalling the incident. "Bombo thought it'd be a brilliant idea to cheer me up with _Burstie juggling_..."

A large crimson dinosaur-like creature tossing about a trio of eerily whistling, bug-eyed haloed spheres that disintegrated upon being dropped with a "pop"...

As Elena pictured the scene in her head she couldn't keep herself from erupting into laughter.

"Eventually I told him to go away," Zick sighed as he continued. "He made my headache worse, not better."

"I'm sure he was only trying to help," Elena reassured him, still smirking.

"Uh huh," Zick rolled his eyes. Monsters and humans were just too different in his mind.

"I bet it's times like this you're glad you can't see them all the time," Elena thought out loud. She quickly stopped herself from further elaborating on her comment as she watched Zick's expression darken. She could tell from the pained look in his eyes that he missed his grandparents, whose ghosts he had been unable to see since surrendering his Dom.

"I..._have_ been able to get some rest..." The boy's small voice trailed off.

Elena thought back to when she was new to Old Mill. While Zick had often conversed energetically with legions of invisible beings, she had seen and heard nothing. Now aware of just how lively the Barrymore House could be on a daily basis, it occurred to her that to the boy who grew up inside the walls of the Detention Oasis, having the house suddenly fall silent must feel...lonely. Perhaps when off-set by school it wouldn't seem to bad, but if one spends all day in a bed surrounded by silence...

"You must be bored, huh," Elena tried to make up for the inconsiderate comment she'd made just moments before.

"Nah, not really," her friend shrugged. "The Bobaks recommended a few books to me.. They have pretty good taste, all things considered."

In Elena's eyes, It seemed so unlike Zick for him to be content in a quiet, near-empty house, simply reading by himself...

But then, how had he spent his days before she'd come into the picture? When she first met him he'd never even been to Bigburg. How he'd changed since then!

Or had he? When Zick still had his taming abilities, the two of them would do crazy, dangerous stunts without a second thought. Zick amassed a huge amount of courage and bravery, all of which were directly converted into an un-defeatable power. He had risen to the challenge of keeping up with Elena's limitless energy and curiosity, and one could even say that he seemed to _enjoy_ it.

Sure, he was a little sick now, but he wasn't a weak individual. Perhaps he was a bit more "normal" than before, but that didn't mean he had to be _boring_...there were still plenty of ways they could (and did) have fun together. They were just a little different than before.

Suddenly it hit her: She hadn't replaced Zick at all. If anything, the two had struck a balance - no matter what, they were a team. No one member overpowered the other; they weren't interchangeable, but they were of equal importance. It was no wonder that Elena felt strange without him present!

Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of strong emotion, Elena stood up and walked to the head of the bed. She grasped one of Zick's pale, thin hands in both of her own and held it gently, a deep, genuinely caring look in her eyes. The young boy grinned lopsidedly in return, and their eyes met.

Words could not convey everything that the young girl was feeling - the warmth, the thoughts, the gratitude. As if linked through internal telepathy, the feelings of the two youths filled the air, an amalgamation of realization and mutual understanding. Silently overwhelmed, the still-feverish Zick began to close his eyes, falling into a calm slumber.

Still holding his hand, Elena squeezed it gently before placing it over his chest, which rose and fell with the rhythm of steady breaths. As she approached the door to leave, these words quietly left her lips:

"Feel better, Zick...I think we both know it's just not the same without you..."


End file.
